Casting Out

Casting Out

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.  1 Peter 5:7

My grandpa was a fisherman.  From my youngest memories, fishing with him and my grandmother are first in my mind.  We would pack up the "just for fishing car" (an old seagreen Falcon that reeked of fish), go out on his boat, or drive to the riverbank, and begin to fish.  My grandparents could spend an entire day fishing and waiting; waiting for the fish to bite, the big one, to fulfill their limit for the day.  I am still amazed at their propensity to sit and wait. 

All of those years of tagging along for days of fishing did not turn me into a fisherman.  I have trouble sitting and waiting.  I need to be doing, going, moving, chatting, yet when you are a true fisherman, you patiently wait, quietly.  Chit-chat has to be kept to a minimum as to not “scare the fish away” or so I was told.  I'm not quite sure how much truth is in that statement.  I wonder if this was their way of politely telling me to stop talking.

As I sat this morning spending my time with the Lord, this verse came to mind: “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7  I have been asking the Lord to reveal to me what letting go/laying down/casting/throwing really practically looks like, walked out in day to day life.  Through several trying events in the past few years, I have had well meaning friends tell me, “You just need to let that go.”  Practically, what does that look like?  To let go of the anxiety, the hurt, the pain, the negativity, the brokenness, the judgment, the discouragement, the fear and just focus on healing and Him.  Immediately when I saw this verse, a word picture began to form in my mind. 

When you want to catch a fish, you can’t keep your rod and reel in the car, on the shore, or in the boat. You must bait the hook and cast it out.  You may have the hook baited with the perfect lure to get that prize catch, but it does no good until you cast it out, let go of the bait, and throw it out.  So as a fisherman, you rear back and cast, allowing the baited lure to sink; out of sight, into the darkness and the unknown, to wait and trust that the prized catch will soon bite and can be reeled in and celebrated.  Now, apply this to any area of life where stress has overtaken, worry or fear is conquering, anxiety is present.  Christ wants us to cast out that care, that burden, that worry, that stressor, that anxiety.  Bait the hook, per say, and toss it out there, allowing Him to work, patiently waiting.  We may do pretty well at times, handing those things over, letting go, casting them upon Him, but how many times do we reel them back in to check the hook?     Is the bait, aka issue,  still there?  Why isn’t this fixed?  How long must I wait?

It’s very difficult to cast our cares onto Him.  We want immediate outcomes, we want the situation fixed, the relationship healed, the physical ailment gone, the emotional roller coaster to be over, the wayward child to be back home, the financial issue to be solved, or whatever the case may be.  Yet, in my experience it has been in the waiting that I find the true catch, the treasure of  a deeper walk with Him.  The discovery of more of Who He is, more of His character.  A discovery of what He truly wants from my life as I daily seek to walk this life with Him, to be the person He truly created me to be.  

God is so patiently teaching me to wait.  Cast and wait.  What I've discovered is very often, my idea of the "big catch" is ultimately found in the surrender, as He changes my perspective of what the "fish" should look like.  

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Ps 62:5-8